|
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior citizens and
disabled homeowners who are not already enrolled in the
property tax relief program known as the homestead
exemption have until Monday, June 7 to sign up for the
2010 tax year, the Ohio Department of Taxation reminded
today.
Applications for the exemption are available at county
auditor offices. Auditors will be accepting the
applications through Monday, June 7. Senior citizens
and disabled Ohioans need sign up only if they have not
enrolled before.
The homestead exemption allows eligible homeowners,
regardless of income, the opportunity to shield $25,000
of the market value of their homestead (a dwelling and
up to one acre of land) from property taxation. For
example, if a home is valued at $100,000, it would be
taxed as if it was worth $75,000.
Although the actual savings varies according to local
tax rates, the typical owner will save about $400
annually.
“This program is saving senior citizens hundreds of
dollars each year on property taxes,” Ohio Tax
Commissioner Richard A. Levin said today. “The
homestead exemption means real property tax relief. But
to get it, you need to sign up.”
The homestead exemption is available to Ohio resident
homeowners 65 and older and to all totally and
permanently disabled homeowners. Seniors are eligible
for the 2010 tax year (bills due in 2011) as long as
they own and occupy their home as of Jan. 1, 2010 and
the date they turn in their application, and will turn
65 sometime during the year.
The current version of the homestead exemption was
revised by Governor Ted Strickland and the Ohio General
Assembly in 2007. A previous exemption included income
tests and a tiered system of benefits that excluded
most senior and disabled citizens.
For a statewide directory of county auditors, visit
www.caao.org/DIRECTORY/.
The application itself is available tax.ohio.gov/documents/forms/real_property/DTE_105A.pdf.
# # #
News media with further questions should contact Mike
McKinney at (614) 466-5461 or John Kohlstrand at (614)
644-3858. Taxpayers with specific questions should
contact their county auditor.
|